The beautiful Northwest Florida city of Fort Walton Beach is best known today as a gateway to some of the most beautiful white sand beaches in the world. Overlooked by many, however, is the city's fascinating Heritage Park & Cultural Center.

A beautifully preserved complex of historic sites, restored structures and a museum of archaeology, the park is located in the heart of downtown Fort Walton Beach.

The park is centered around the noted Fort Walton Temple Mound, a major ceremonial structure build by Native Americans of the Mississippian culture (A.D. 900-1500). The platform mound, comparable to the pyramids of the Aztecs and Mayans, was the center of a large mound group built along the shores of Santa Rosa Sound. The prominence of the site caused archaeologists to give the label of "Fort Walton" to Northwest Florida's Mississippian people.

Adjoining the mound is the Indian Temple Mound Museum. Founded in 1961, this was the first municipally owned museum in Florida. It houses a collection of more than 4,000 artifacts including elaborate pottery vessels excavated from the mounds at Fort Walton Beach as well as relics left behind by early Spanish explorers.

On another side of the mound can be seen the cannon of the Walton Guards. This 18-pounder was sent from Pensacola to help defend Camp Walton, a Confederate camp established at the base of the mound in 1861. Southern troops were posted here until the summer of 1862 to guard Santa Rosa Sound and Choctawhatchee Bay from Union attack. It is from this Civil War camp that the modern Fort Walton draws its name.

In addition to the museum, mound and camp site, two beautiful historic structures can be found on the grounds of the Heritage Park.

The Camp Walton Schoolhouse was built in 1912 as a one-room school offering eight grades. A room for high school students was later added on to the back of the building. Beautifully restored as a project of the Junior Service League and Okaloosa County School Board, the old school is open from Monday through Saturday from 12 noon until 4 p.m.

Immediately behind the schoolhouse is the historic Garnier Post Office.

Built in 1918, it is one of the oldest surviving post offices in Northwest Florida. Built of cypress, the structure also served as an early voting precinct. Restored in 1979 by the City of Fort Walton Beach and the Junior Service League, the old post office is open during the same hours as the Camp Walton School-house.